"The Unexamined Life is not worth living."

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On one side you have the body, the physical proof that we are who we are. Could you imagine yourself without it? Rather difficult to say the least. It’s what we’ve so thoroughly studied in the fields of biology and medicine. It’s the carrier of all the memories you’ve ever had, the pain you’ve ever endured, and all the joy you’ve ever felt. We’ve seen it grow right before our eyes, develop and change it’s form as time passes us by. There are those who don’t seem to age, however, and we make sure to express that opinion.

Then you have the mind. Has the consciousness that is you changed to same degree? Of course we amend our thoughts and beliefs over time, but anything drastic is unheard of. You’ve been you since you can remember.

I’m not here to say the mind is anymore you than the body it’s encapsulating. Just that there is a separation. With that same separation I ask, what is a mind without a body and vice-versa? We can’t remember the split second our body came into existence so a simultaneous creation seems unlikely. I personally don’t have any clear, vivid thoughts that predate my 4th or 5th birthday, and that’s pushing it.

Is it fair to say there wasn’t a mind quite yet? Or is it simply just a matter of being able to remember or not? Eh, I feel as if short cutting myself takes the fun out of things.

Everyday, I come into contact with many people. Whether it’s at the coffee shop, the gym, or at school, being immersed in our society is obviously something natural. But I question all of it. Every wave, every Hello, every second of eye contact. I can’t help but feel blessed to be a participant in this euphoria we call Life…life?

“What’s life?” It’s one of those questions that are either used in a playful manner or flat-out not given much thought. I see it differently however. I imagine an infant child gazing at their surroundings in complete awe, utter amazement. What else could they be thinking besides “What is this!?”

It’s our own individual universe. Yes, there’s an infinite array of space beyond our blue skies. Our own planet could even be mistaken as limitless, but what’s anything that we’re never aware of? From a forgotten thought to a consumed pastry miles away, it’s as if things not brought to our awareness are entirely nonexistent.

I could venture into how supposedly the shift of the ages that came along with 2012 has decreased the lag time between thought manifestation. If that’s too abstract, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich novel touches on how the power of one’s mind can control one’s physical circumstances. These notions, plus many others, have absolutely give risen to the ideas that we are the main characters of our conscious movie. I am the protagonist in this never-ending script. I have the power to see to it how it plays out. I control who and what plays a role and how that factors in.

The whole notion of consciousness baffles me. One of the most fundamental aspects to the human condition, yet one of the least understood. So I took my perspective and began to rationalize it myself.

It’s fair to say that consciousness is a widespread phenomena among all people of Earth. This is an obvious assumption of what is most likely many people, but it needed to be said to venture into my points. How would one compare the consciousness of an adolescent vs. an adult? Someone in the Oval Office vs. someone in a mental asylum? A Christian vs. a Muslim?

One could say that the beliefs, morals, values, and norms differ among these people but that the underlying consciousness in all of them is the same. One could say that if the underlying consciousnesses is identical then how could any two lives deviate from one another?

That concept caused me ponder whether the consciousness is actually a fluctuating entity in people, having peaks and valleys throughout their corresponding lives, being able to take notice of the thoughts and emotions of a depressed Monday compared to an ecstatic Wednesday.

Does consciousness grow? Well, many believe meditation is a technique to expand one’s consciousness so indeed it could grow. But what comes with a broadened consciousness? A richer, deeper perspective, which can then be used in some sort of decision-making? Could that perceptual increase correlate to wisdom?

I believe where consciousness lies, is where the dreams lie and I believe this to be true due to the fact that it would be impossible for someone to follow my thoughts frame by frame. The TV-like screen projected in our psyche is where all thoughts take place and potentially where all dreams take place. Having drastically different thoughts is one reason why peoples lives are so different. Of course this is where thoughts tie back into everything of the physical world and how our 5 senses interpret that information 24/7. And this is what intrigues me.

The physical world is vast. Not only is it common to want to explore the physical world, it is subliminally a norm we follow by habit. Granted, the universe is infinite to our knowledge, we’re limited to this one planet. Our mind, however, isn’t.

Consciousness. One word that holds enormous value. Over the years, I slowly began to realize that the idea of consciousness is probably the most fundamental aspect in life itself. It just so happens it is also the least understood, and that is the motivation behind why I will continue to delve into the idea of consciousness.

Attending the basic high school and college science classes, you begin to notice the redundancy of a few names. Newton, Einstein, Darwin. The deeper into science you travel, names such as Bohr, Schrodinger, and Heisenberg become recurrent. All revolutionary scientists, shaping the their respective fields, and leaving their marks in history. I would, however, like to point out that each of them hypothesized and conducted on matters of the outside world. Although, Darwin could be a fair argument.

Now don’t get me wrong. There has been great strides in the field of neuroscience. Back in 2007, Robert Lanza proposed the concept of Biocentrism. This definition should provide the gist. The theory espouses that biology is the central driving science in the universe, and sees an understanding of the other sciences as reliant on a deeper understanding of biology. Biocentrism states that life and biology are central to being, reality, and the cosmos — life creates the universe rather than the other way around. It asserts that current theories of the physical world do not work, and can never be made to work, until they fully account for life and consciousness.

Disclaimer: I intend to read Lanza’s book, dubbed Biocentrism.

Other scientists believe the theory is incomplete, which indeed it is as it only presents extremely abstract ideas. I sometimes ask myself this question. What is it to be a conscious? Is it self-awareness? Knowing that you are you? Well, it appears as if that consciousness led us down a path not at all concerned with why things are this way.

It baffles me how the most notable scientists aren’t those who have made significant steps in the understanding of our own species. Humans. String theory is relatively popular in terms of describing the makeup of universal building blocks beyond the subatomic level, but will a full understanding of this allow us to grasp consciousness? I’ve heard it’s too complex a subject. Then I think about the Supercollider and say to myself, “Rubbish.”